Starry Monday at Otterbein

Astronomy Lecture Series-every first Monday of the month-

March 7, 2005

Dr. Uwe Trittmann

Welcome to

Today’s Topics

• Mission to Mars

• The Night Sky in March

Feedback!• Please write down suggestions/your interests on the

note pads provided

• If you would like to hear from us, please leave your email / address

• To learn more about astronomy and physics at Otterbein, please visit– http://www.otterbein.edu/dept/PHYS/weitkamp.asp (Obs.)– http://www.otterbein.edu/dept/PHYS/ (Physics Dept.)

Mission to Mars

• A first look at Mars

• Early Mars missions

• Last years missions: Spirit, Opportunity & Mars Express

• Future Mars missions

Mars - A Terrestrial Planet(i.e. small, dense and rocky)

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Mars

Mars• Half the diameter of Earth• Density similar to that of

the moon• Surface temperature –180 F to -10 F• Day ~ 24.6 hours• Year ~ 2 Earth years• Seasons like on Earth• Thin atmosphere, mostly

carbon dioxide– 1/150 the pressure of

Earth’s atmosphere

Mars’ Surface Features

• Tharsis region rises 10 km above Martian surface– Contains huge volcanoes

• Valles Marineris – Martian “Grand Canyon”– 4000 km long, up to 120 km

across and 7 km deep– So large that it can be seen

from Earth

Martian Volcanoes• Olympus Mons

– Largest known volcano in the solar system– 450 mi across at base– Peak ~16 mi high (almost 3 times as tall as Mt. Everest!)

Dust Storms

Mars – The next Earth?

• Mars looks a lot like Earth• The big questions:

– Is there (or was there) water?– Is there (or was there) life?– Can we as humans get there?– Can we as humans survive there in the long

term?

Martian Surface Iron gives the characteristic Mars color: rusty red!

View of Viking 1 1 m rock Sojourner

Martian Panorama

Note: the sky is not black as on the moon, but pale pink of the dust in the atmosphere!

“Twin Peaks” – about 1 mile away

Viking Lander Experiments (1976)

• Search for bacteria-like forms of life

• Assumed such life would be similar to Earth bacteria

• Results inconclusive at best

• Did not test for extinct life forms

Today’s Mars Panorama: Opportunity, Spirit & Mars Express

Mars Rovers Homepage

• http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/

• Has great images, slide shows of week to week progress and discoveries and more

Size of the Rovers

Landing Sites

A couple of 1000 miles apart!

Rover life is tough!

• Both rovers have outlived their life expectancy threefold …and counting

• They are remote-controlled, though they have some amount of built-in strategies

• However: one mistake – and it might be all over!

• Time delay from control center to rover:– Distance: 60 – 370 million kilometers – or: 3 – 20 light minutes

Important Mission: Find water!• Why is water so important?

– Without water• No chance for life on Mars• No chance for humans surviving on Mars

• Isn’t there a lot of ice at the poles?– Yes, but it’s mostly dry ice (CO2)

• The search for water is very subtle, like a detective you look for “hints” and “traces”

Water on Mars? - HintsMars Louisiana

Outflow ChannelsRunoff channels

European Space Agency (ESA)

• http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/index.html• Another great resource for Mars information• Mars Express is spectacularly successful, although in

public opinion this is overshadowed by the Beagle 2 failure (the lander was lost during landing)

Mars Express

• Launched June 2, 2003

• Arrived at Mars December 2003

• Lander: Beagle 2 (lost)

• Mass: 1200 kg (equivalent to a large car)

Mars Express Orbiter Mission• image the entire surface at high resolution (10 meters/pixel) and

selected areas at super resolution (2 meters/pixel)

• produce a map of the mineral composition of the surface at 100 meter resolution

• map the composition of the atmosphere and determine its global circulation

• determine the structure of the sub-surface to a depth of a few kilometers

• determine the effect of the atmosphere on the surface

• determine the interaction of the atmosphere with the solar wind.

Mars Express Pictures

• Glacial, volcanic and fluvial activity on Mars

                                                                                                                       

Estimates of abundance of Water

… have changed dramatically over the decades

                                                                                                                             

Where is the Water?

• The water could have been lost to space, trapped underground, or both.

• Mars Express will observe the atmosphere and reveal processes by which water vapor and other atmospheric gases could have escaped into space.

• Also examines the surface and will actually look for underground water and ice.  

A Trip to Mars?• Wernher von Braun (1952): first realistic proposal

for a Mars mission• 1969: Space Task Group called for a manned

mission to Mars by 1981• Space program lost momentum in early 1970s• Ride report (1989) urged manned mission to Mars• Report of the Advisory Committee on the Future

of the Space Program (1990) acknowledged that “…the long term magnet for the manned space

program is the planet Mars – the human exploration of Mars… Such an undertaking probably must be justified largely on the basis of intangibles”

The Moon-Mars Initiative

• NASA website: “The Vision announced by President George W. Bush on Jan. 14, 2004, offers a "building block" strategy of human and robotic missions, beginning with returning the Space Shuttle to flight and completing the International Space Station. It calls for humans to return to the moon by 2020 and eventually explore Mars and beyond.”

                                                                                •http://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/explore_main.html

Moon-Mars is highly controversial

• Report from the American Physical Society Panel on Public Affairs: “The cost of overcoming technological

challenges could far exceed budgetary projections. Many approved science programs could be jeopardized”

(http://www.aura-astronomy.org/nv/APS_Report.pdf)

Going to Mars: Is it realistic?

• Judge for yourself!• Keep in mind:

– To the moon it takes a week round trip– To Mars it takes a year round trip– Space Hazards

• Radiation• Micrometeorites • High g forces during liftoff• Low gravity• Psychological effects

•Requirements–Air

–Food

–Water

–Temperature

–Personal hygiene

On the way to Mars: Moon Station

On Mars

Current Mars Plan• Mars Surveyor 2003 (Discovery of water!)

– Twin rovers (Spirit & Opportunity) arrived January ‘04

• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2005)• 2007: “Scout missions”• 2009: Italian communications satellite to provide

data transfer capability; smart lander; long range rover

• 2014–2016: return of Martian soil and rock samples to Earth ($1-2 billion)

• A human on Mars by 2020 @ $500 billion (?)

The Night Sky in March

• The sun is getting higher -> shorter nights!

• Spring constellations (Cancer,Leo,Coma,Virgo,…) contain few bright stars but many galaxies

• Jupiter is in opposition this month (i.e. at its brightest)

Moon Phases• Today (Waning crescent, 10%)

• 2 / 10 (New Moon)

• 2 / 17 (First Quarter Moon)

• 2 / 25 (Full Moon)

• 4 / 1 (Last Quarter Moon)

Today at

Noon

• Sun at meridian, i.e. exactly south

10 PM

Typical observing hour, early March

• no Moon

• Jupiter

• Saturn at meridian

Zenith

High in the sky:

Perseus andAuriga

with Plejades and the Double

Cluster

North-East

• Big Dipper points to the north pole

South-West

• The Winter Constellations– Orion– Taurus– Canis Major– Gemini– Canis Minor

South

Spring Constellations

- Cancer- Leo- Hydra

Deep Sky Objects:- Beehive Cluster (M44)

Mark your Calendars!

• Next Starry Monday at Otterbein: April 4, 2005, 7 pm (this is a Monday )

• Web pages:– http://www.otterbein.edu/dept/PHYS/weitkamp.asp (Obs.)– http://www.otterbein.edu/dept/PHYS/ (Physics Dept.)

Mark your Calendars II

• Physics Coffee is every Wednesday, 3:30 pm • Open to the public, everyone welcome!• Location: across the hall, Science 256• Free coffee, cookies, etc.

• This week: “Mythbusters: The strange case of Dr. Trittmann’s nebulous

pictures”

Disclaimer: No, I don’t think it’s a UFO – but judge for yourself!

Strange Picture #1

• Taken Sat night, 30s exp., there shouldn’t be a nebula next to the open cluster; it’s not a plane!